Sweden probably isn’t one of the first countries that come to mind when talking about electric vehicle leaders, but plug-in vehicles have a higher market share there than in almost any other country in the world. In 2019, 11% of auto sales were sales of plug-in vehicles.
One odd thing about this market is that it’s one of the only markets I know of in which the Tesla Model 3 wasn’t the best selling plug-in vehicle in 2019. The Model 3 came in second behind the consistently popular Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV.
Naturally, part of the Outlander PHEV’s popularity in Sweden is its vehicle class — it’s an affordable SUV, still a unique position in the market. Incidentally, though, neither the Outlander PHEV nor the Model 3 won the December sales race. Instead, it was the Volkswagen Passat GTE, which was 6th in the full year ranking.
In general, plug-in hybrids do very well in Sweden. They accounted for 7% of the auto market, while fully electric vehicles accounted for 4%, according to EV Volumes. Aside from the Model 3, plug-in hybrids took the top spots in terms of 2019 plug-in sales until you get to the #7 Renault Zoe. The Kia Niro PHEV was #3, the Kia Optima PHEV #4, and the Volvo S/V60 T8 #5. Here’s a full breakdown of the
Of the plug-in vehicle market, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV had 12% of sales, the Tesla Model 3 10%, and the Kia Niro PHEV and Kia Optima PHEV 8% each.
Plug-in vehicles are supported by decent governmental incentives in Sweden, as the chart below from Volkswagen shows. Though, what’s key in my mind is that when you have 10% of buyers choosing electric, that spreads via word of mouth the many benefits of electric vehicles and another wave of buyers get comfortable going electric.
If you prefer to see the sales charts with “Others” included, here are those charts:
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